Mr Monster High

So I wound up watching a bunch of the Monster High specials for work and I was astonished at how, I don’t know, progressive they were? Like at first glance it all seems like stripper stilettos and Bratz ripoffs, but the movies/shorts are surprisingly feminist, and how they covered pretty extreme topics ranging from resentment over scars on your arms/legs(even if it’s allegorical), to manipulative older men to the pressure to submit to boyfriends, what to do if adults don’t believe you when you report abuse, changing to be more popular at the expense of backstabbing your friends, how one’s heritage and culture should be embraced and not eschewed to fit in, but it doesn’t need to define you if you don’t want it to, there’s even a male character who actually willingly participates in their fashion and wears dresses a couple times and none of his male friends make fun of him for it, not to mention the whole “I deserve as much respect as anyone no matter what I wear” thing, like… I was pretty damn impressed, heh. I was sort of afraid that it would be sending some regressive and vapid “OMG FASHION~~” shit but who knew something so innocuous would end up being so progressive? Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it’s there. Maybe it’s a good thing it’s so under the radar, delivering this sort of stuff to kids. If this is what is popular with 10 year olds… maybe their generation is not as far gone as we think?? I know this all sounds really hard to believe, doesn’t it? 

Whelp, I thought it was about time I shared some non-Monster dolls again, so here’s April O’Neil from TMNT 2012! I think she’s the first full-custom I’ve shared here! :D

So Prowl and I get in line at Starbucks to get a latte. We do this a lot. In fact, this particular Prowl has lived in my purse since I bought him in April. Even if I take him out of my purse (so other robots can have a turn riding around town), he sneaks back in. I think he just wants to capitalize on all coffee opportunities, but I don’t really mind, because I think it’s important in life to have a Pocket Prowl.

But I digress.

So the point of this little story is that people will sometimes ask what I’m doing when I take pictures of my robots in public. I don’t mind, and I’ll happily tell people that I am taking pictures of my robots’ adventures around town, and posting them online. They give me a blank look, like I just spoke Klingon. They ask why I would do this. I say it’s because I’m having fun. At this point, they’re usually looking at me as though I’m some frightening breed of bug, but I don’t really mind that either. I can tell that they just don’t have a mental place to file what I’m doing. They don’t understand “fun” that doesn’t fit into their category of “fun.” I’m not bowling, drinking beer, or attending a concert. I’m not at a movie, or shopping (unless one counts the coffee), so they have no idea what I mean when I say I’m having “fun.” It’s like I’m speaking a foreign language. 

But then they do the one thing that irritates me completely. They say, “It’s ok. Don’t worry about it.” Or, “It’s ok, I don’t mind.” As if I  had just apologized. Wrong.

And I will say, “I wasn’t apologizing to you. I was just explaining to you what I’m doing.”

Then their eyes get big. “OH. Oh.” And they blink, and sort of look helplessly around, as though I really ought to be apologizing, especially now that I’ve been gauche enough not to. “Well. I was just wondering after all,” they will say. “What you were doing. I mean.”

You mean what? I mean, really. What do you mean? That I’m not an exact replica of you, doing exactly what you would do at every moment of my life?

I’m just at a total loss for why people think it’s their business what I’m doing. I don’t mind them asking, not at all. That’s totally cool. But when they get to the point where they assume that I should, or even am apologizing to them for doing something that they don’t understand, I really have no patience for that. It is ok to photograph robots in public. It is ok to do something that’s just not normal. Obviously, if I were being obnoxious or disruptive in some way, I would understand people being annoyed with me. But I really don’t have any room for being treated as though I somehow owe an apology for doing what others simply may not understand.

It’s ok to not be doing what everyone else is doing. It’s ok to just have fun. It’s ok to be yourself. And we shouldn’t have to apologize for doing exactly that. I know that the majority of people will never come to this realization, and that’s sad, because we end up wasting a life trying to be exactly like everyone else — who by the way, is trying desperately to be exactly like everyone else. So who is it we’re supposed to be like if everyone is trying to be who they’re not?

I will continue to unapologetically be myself. And to anyone out there on my Tumblr feed who catches flak for doing what you love, keep doing it, because there are others of us doing what we love, too. Someone once said to me that we’re born as original works of art, and by the end of our lives, most people are carbon copies of every other carbon copy. I don’t want to lose my originality, and neither should you. Do what you love, and don’t apologize for doing it. Don’t forget how to be a kid. And if you have a robot in your pocket or purse or wherever you like to keep him, take him for coffee once in a while. Trust me, he’ll love you for it. 

:)

I do this all the time. Maybe it’s because I’m a guy that people so often dismiss my nerdiness, or I don’t usually feel the need to justify my behavior. I will admit that when I started collecting MH I was embarrassed… I would drag friends with me or- in an extreme bout of self-awareness, I bought a birthday card and gift bag. Blah.

BNO: The Rules of Bro-hood 

 When it comes to BNO (Bro’s Night Out, for the dudes still stuck in the catacombs) there are a few things Clawd wants every monster to remember:

1. Ghouls are cool, but every guy needs time to do… well, guy stuff! Leave the ghoulfriend at home and don’t forget to bring your “A” game.

2. Dungeons and Gargoyles is a thing. And it’s clawesome. Get on board before this fright train leaves the station.